Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-06-09
PHYSICAL STRENGTH.
THE WORK OF A YOUNG BEGIN
NER IN A GYMNASIUM. !

Nch llN - VI 4
The First Thing to Do-Something Else
Needed Besides q Big Biceps-Gymnas-
tics in Later Life-Finish with .
Bath.
In these days of muscular activity gym
nasium is an interesting place even TO those
who know nothing about gymnastics. Here
is large hall, with gallery running around
it, and filed with all sorts of curious con-
trivances for developing physical strength.
A dozen men, of as many kind of build, are
exercising their muscles and preparing for
the outdoor contests of power and endurance
which are to take place during the summer.
There are big men showing" dumb bells and
little men standing on their hands, while men
of middle size pull on strange looking ma
chimes composed of pulleys and weights. The
outsider wonders what all these things are,
and what they are for, and it may be well to
satisfy his curiosity.
The first thing a man wants to do who
wants to be gymnast is to convert his soft
flesh into tough, elastic muscle The careless
observer fancies that muscle ought to be as
hard as wood, and he is often misled into
fancying that the biceps is the chief, if not
the only, muscle that is useful
BIG BICEPs-
GOh, look at his muscle" is the common ex-
clamation when a man brings his wrist up
toward his neck and raises swelling lump
on the front of his upper arm. Well, a big
biceps is good thing; but man who lacks
triceps and pectoralis major will not do q
great deal of damage in fight or in a foot
ball match. The biceps is a pulling muscle,
and it happens that man has to push just
as hard as be has to pull in all contests Of
strength. So the young gymnast usually be-
gins with Indian clubs, which produce
general development of the arms, shoulders
and chest. At all public gymnastic eIhibi-
tions fancy club swinging is one of the feat
ures, and some of the intricate and graceful
evolutions that are performed by crack club
swingers are surprising. But for the mere
development of strength three or four Of the
rudimentary movements, which can be mas
tered in an hour, are all that are necessary.
The young gymnast usually begins by
working too hand. 1t is hard to teach a man
moderation on his first day in the gymna-
sum, but on the second day it is usually more
difficult to persuade him to do anything at
all The first days exercise has a telling effect
upon the unframed muscles. By the time the
young gymnast goes to bed he begins to feel
as if he had the rheumatism in every fiber of
his body from the waist up, and when he
arises in the morning he is so sore that every
movement causes pain. He is 10th to make q
single motion that is unnecessary, and the
exertion of strength causes him to groan.
There is only one thing to be done, and that
is to go right to work again. The muscles are
stiff and the stiffness must be taken out. So
let the young gymnast get his clubs and
swing away. After the first few moments
the soreness will begin to decrease and will
gradually disappear. The next day it will be
Just as bad as ever, and must be removed by
the same method. In few days it will per-
manently disappear, and the gymnast will
discover that his muscles have already begun
to show the effects of systematic exercise.
THE PARALLEL BARS.
It will be time for him to take to the paral-
lei bars-two long pieces of wood supported
by uprights and placed side by side just about
as far apart as the width of a good sized
mans shoulders The first thing that the be-
ginner usually does is to practice pushing up
and down. Placing his hands upon the bars
he supports his body above them, while his
legs hang down between. Then by bending
his arms at the elbows he lowers his body as
far as he can and pushes it up again by
Strengthening his arms. This looks simple
enough, but it is cruel hard work at first.
The beginner, however, must keep at it till
he can do it fifteen or twenty times He
must continue the club swinging, and may
add little light dumb bell exercise. Heavy
dumb bells should be eschewed by all except
those who are not going in for heavy GYM
nastics. They are not neaIUnIuI, ana plenty
of fine development can be got without them.
The man who has to sit in an Office all day
can go to bis gymnasium for an hour in the
evening and get all the exercise needful for
health and strength. Once acquired, the
ability to do gymnastic feats may be retained
for years. Daily practice is all that is neces-
sary. 1t is a mistake to suppose that man
must give up gymnastics when he has got
along to say 60 years of age. If he will con-
tinue to practice an hour daily he may go on
doing good back and front somersaults until
his children are old enough to take lessons
from him. And If he cannot spare the time
to go to gymnasium he can keep up his
muscles at home. Five minutes dumb bell
exercise before going to bed, q few pushes up
and down on the backs of two chairs by way
of parallels, and five minutes club swinging
in the morning will preserve for many years
the muscles developed in the gymnasium
One thing should never be neglected. If
man wants to get the very best possible benefit
out of his gymnastic work, let him always
finish with bath. The water should not be
warm, nor yet quite cold and the ablution
should be ended with cold shower bath
After that let the gymnast rub down hard
with Turkish bath fowl and dress himself
He will leave the gymnasium feeling as if he
could whip John l. Sullivan, eat Texas
steer, or go around the world on toboggan.
New York Times.